Two Legs, One Heart
by GreatDarkNoodleKing
Summary: Rated M for human-eating. Pitch the merman decided to save the life of a creature he should have eaten. Will this decision come back to bite him? Or was it the best decision of his life? Based off Little Mermaid. BlackIce. Mer-Pitch, Mer-Tooth, Mer-Bunny, Mer-North. Mer-Sandy Mer Mer Mer...
1. Chapter 1

_**I thought of this the other night and now it won't go away. I hope nobody tries to kill me for it… Based off The Little Mermaid, copyright Disney.**_

_Two Legs, One Heart_

It had been a stupid idea in the first place. He would admit to that. But now that Jack was sinking into the depths of the ocean, he was one hundred percent adamant that it had been a horrible idea.

Taking a ship out to travel and lighting fireworks when the shore of his hometown was visible was a terrible, terrible idea. Now, none of the rest of the crew argued against it- nobody did- but each one of them was regretting it. Swallowing gulps of salt water, flailing limbs, crying for help as their ship burned and exploded with gunpowder. Yes, they were definitely regretting it.

None regretted more than the teenage boy sinking to his death, though. Jack may have lived right on the shoreline, but he had never been the strongest swimmer. And now he was paying the price; drowning.

Jack's last thoughts were of his family back home. How his sister and mother would react to hearing that he had died at sea. At this point, he wished he had stopped to think of the consequences.

* * *

Pitch had been swimming with his pod- following the two-leg vessel since they first spotted it. Even if it hadn't burst, he and the rest of his pod would have attacked and fed on the two-legs. It was their own fault, making themselves such easy prey. Every merman and mermaid in the ocean knew just how easy a meal a two-leg was. They didn't belong in the water. They drew every predator to tem with their flailing legs.

This vessel just happened to be unlucky enough to have drawn an entire pod of Pitch's kind. None of the two-legs aboard would survive.

Swimming around, watching as the pathetic two-legs fell into the water one by one, Pitch scanned to see which would be best for his meal. Several of his pod had already bolted for the ones who were trying to swim away.

Looking to his right, Pitch instantly claimed the two-leg he spotted as his own. The rest of the pod wouldn't have noticed either way, they were busy dragging the many two-legs to their deaths. Hissing, baring the large fangs of his species, Pitch sped to the sinking two-leg.

Claws gripping into the shoulders of the two-leg, Pitch was fully prepared to chomp into the flesh of his face and devour it. But he stopped when his eyes landed on his face. This two-leg was… beautiful. Pitch had never seen any creature more gorgeous. Soft, smooth, pale flesh, surface ice white hair, and such a peaceful dying look.

Swallowing, Pitch glanced behind him and watched as his pod-mates ripped apart their prey. He couldn't do that to this two-leg. Looking back at him, Pitch determined that he would spare this two-legged angel. He pulled him to the surface and squeezed around his middle until the two-leg coughed and spluttered and heaved like so many of the other dying members of his kind.

Pitch felt his hands grabbing desperately at his own shoulders. Holding the two-leg tight, he squeezed again and heard more of the splutters. Then deep, loud, painful sounding intakes of breath. Quickly Pitch began swimming him away. At first the two-leg kept clawing at his shoulders, as if afraid to fall back into the water, but slowly his thin body went limp. It made it that much easier to drag him toward the land two-legs needed to live.

* * *

Finally reaching the flat, sandy beach as the sun began to rise, Pitch laid his beautiful two-leg onto his back. He brushed the icy white hair from his forehead, leaving his peaceful, sleeping face unmarred. Gazing down at him, Pitch found himself smiling.

Such beauty… Running his fingertips down the curve of his handsome face, Pitch wondered why he felt so strongly for this one. He had eaten so many other two-legs without a second thought. This one… So beautiful…

Looking down at him, he made the thought to do something he had seen the two-legs do before. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to the unconscious boys'. Moving his mouth against his, sliding his lips open and closed again and again, tasting the soft, wet insides of his lips.

Sliding his lips off, pulling his head back tenderly, he gazed down at his two-leg beauty. His eyelids began to flutter and a soft noise left him. Smiling down at him, Pitch touched the side of his face again.

Those pale, pink lids lifted up to reveal eyes as blue as the sky above. Every detail of this two-leg was stunning.

He blinked up at him, stammering and mumbling with an exhaustion Pitch didn't understand. He wondered if he could see him.

"Hey! Hey, look, here's someone over there!"

Gasping, Pitch flicked his head up to see three other two-legs running toward him. Immediately, he flopped backwards straight into the water. He swam away and hid behind a rock jutting from the sea.

"Jack!" the three new two-legs were shouting as they reached the one he had saved. "Jack! Jack!" They lifted him up and began asking him several things that Pitch didn't understand. He heard that word, Jack, quite a lot. That must have been what he was called.

Jack stood and gazed out at the water as the three others patted his back and asked him things. Pitch perked up and pulled his head a little higher seeing this. Was he looking for him? Did he remember that someone had saved his life?

Pitch watched him stand there until he finally walked away. He had never wanted to save a two-leg before this. Jack was special…

Smiling one last time, Pitch swam off, heading back to his home.

* * *

Pitch lived in a single cavern with one of his pod-mates. A female called Tooth. She was called this for as much reason as Pitch was called pitch- his solid black hair was as dark as pitch. Tooth was called Tooth because when she killed her two-legs, she removed the teeth and saved them. She turned them into jewelry that she wore around her neck, wrists, and middle. She also decorated the cavern with them. Pitch didn't mind the teeth being everywhere, he rather liked being surrounded by such a dark reminder of the deaths of their meals. His hair was not the only thing dark about him. His tail was solid black at bottom and slowly faded to blend into his pale, grey toned flesh. (But his mind was darker.)

He gave his pod-mate a soft smile before settling into his sleeping space inside the cave. Tooth was threading some fresh teeth together as he arrived.

"Where have you been all night?" she asked him in their language.

Rolling his shoulders, Pitch replied, "Nowhere special… Watching the two-legs again. They're too trusting of the water… Unsuspecting of the dangers." Tooth rolled her eyes at him.

Finishing her newest necklace, Tooth settled into her space to sleep. "Well, just don't get yourself caught," she said to him, "None of us are coming to your rescue…"

Pitch frowned at that. None of them… Yet here he had just rescued the creature he should have eaten.

_**And I'm not sure WHY I thought of this.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**I honestly hate when someone writes a review saying they hate a story, don't sign in, and don't say why. Cuz then I have no way to contact them and ask so that I can improve on it later. It leaves me thinking for HOURS like, "Fuck. What did I do wrong that made them hate it so much?" And I sit and ponder all the spaces I thought weren't my best. For a very long time.**_

_Two Legs, One Heart – Chapter Two_

Jack didn't want to worry his mother, but here was no possible way he could have ended up home. Not only home, but safe, alive, and not-full of salt water. It didn't add up in his head. The ship had been past the reefs- it would have taken him past sunrise to swim back to shore. And besides that, he had been _drowning_! He had physically felt himself breathing in _water_. A horrid, dark feeling that told him in ways no words could that he was going to die. He could never have started swimming when he was drowning.

And what about what he had seen? He had been certain there was a man. But how could a man be swimming so far out in the ocean so late at night and not be drowning himself? It didn't make sense. He had felt something while he was drowning, but when he was on the shore… Maybe his mind had been playing tricks on him. There couldn't have been another man, the others had said he was he only one they found.

He was the only survivor of the wreck. Others went out and searched for them during the day, once he told everyone what happened, and came back with nothing. It had been more than a miracle that he survived. Considering the fact that his own father had died at sea and his body had never been found, Jack could understand why his mother was so overjoyed to believe in this miracle. Jack wouldn't make her worry over something that didn't happen.

Sitting with his younger sister Maria, Jack pushed his toes under the sand of the beach with a content sigh. He wouldn't tell her that he was secretly searching for a man with black hair.

* * *

Pitch had gone off on his own again. The rest of his pod didn't really mind, they were used to his need for alone time. He stalked a school of very confused sardines for a while, laughing at the way they tried to avoid him, bumped into each other, and swam into him afterwards. He ate a few of them, went and attacked a jellyfish field, laughing as they stung each other, and then swam off to find some more food.

"Pitch!" one of his pod mates called to him, swimming fast. Pitch turned and smiled at the deep blue-tailed male. This male was called Aster, simply because that was what his mother called him, it had no reason. If he were called by reason his name probably would have been Blue, with his blue-grey hair and tale.

Floating where he was, Pitch smiled warmly at him. "Aster," he greeted, swirling around him a little, "What is it?"

Aster grinned with his large, bucked teeth. "I've found the carcass of another two-leg from the move last night. Wanna join me in snacking on it?" Pitch grinned and that was all the answer he needed. They swam off excitedly.

* * *

Jack and Maria were skipping stones on the water outside their house. He smiled brightly at her when hers went farther than his.

She picked up a rock and then frowned at it. Dropping it, she made a face and growled, "Ew, it's all mushy!"

Lifting the rock she dropped, Jack smiled when he found that it had algae growing on it. He tossed it into the water. They continued for a little while before their mother called them to the house for supper.

Jack turned to go and stopped, looking at his feet. "Ick," he grumbled, "My fee are all seaweed-y." He told his mom he'd be there once he washed his feet. Once that was taken care of, he went in and sat at the table with his sister.

After they ate Maria began coloring on parchment in the sitting room. Jack was attempting to help his mother clean the plates from supper. In the middle of this task, there was a knock at the front door. His mother stopped, dried her hands, and went to answer.

Jack listened intently. It was the town lawyer. "I was taking some friends out for a boating trip. We'd all be very honored if you would join us." Jack rolled his eyes at his pathetic attempt at asking her on a date. His mother wasn't interested anyway. She was still getting over what happened to their father. (Having the constant reminder of the ocean in their backyard probably didn't help.)

"No thank you, John," she said gently, "You know I can't leave my kids home alone. Besides, I'm a widow now…" Jack nodded firmly. Damn right.

"Oh, but it'll just be a few hours. We really insist you come."

"No **thank you**," his mother replied sternly, "I will not leave my child who just nearly drowned _last night_ home alone when he could suffer a dry-drowning seizure spell."

"You worry too much, Jill," he said, "Just come with us, take a load off, relax a while."

Finally Jack gave up with listening to this man badger his mother. He walked away from the dishes, out behind her, and said, "Mom, I can't get the stains off the knife…" Instant ticket to get mom to say she had to leave and make John listen.

When they returned to the washing, Jack muttered, "I hate how he calls you Jill- like he knows you."

"_Jackson_," his mother began in a warning tone.

"He should call you Jillian like every other stuck up lawyer in town does," Jack finished, hissing darkly. His mother frowned at him for that, but Jack pretended not to notice.

* * *

Pitch was wading behind rocks along the shoreline. Searching for his two-leg under the guise of searching for pearls. He didn't want his pod knowing that he was going against their nature by wanting to see a surviving two-leg.

He frowned by every shelter. None of them yielded the sight of his lovely Jack. Where was he? Did he even live here? Pitch could have brought him back to a pod of completely unrelated two-legs. He frowned at his own idiocy.

As he swam, one two-leg's pet four-legged canine began barking at him. He hissed at it and hurried away before the two-leg it belonged to came over.

* * *

Jack came back out and sat on the sandy beach with his mother and sister. They did this a lot. Most of the time they wondered what ever happened to their father. He had only gone on a trip for work reasons, and the ship never returned. They found out months later it had been sunk, but no survivors were found.

Jack was sure that was what his mother was doing. Right now, though, all he was doing was wondering about the mystery man again. There was no way he could have been real. Absolutely no way.

Pitch stopped dead when his eyes finally landed on a striking head of white hair. "There he is…" he whispered to himself, hiding behind a rock. He actually had found several pearls, and had them collected in a pouch around his waist. He made sure no to push into the rock and lose them.

And then… he waited. He stared and watched Jack sitting. He frowned unhappily at the fact that he was sitting with two females. If either one was his mate he'd eat them in an instant. Already possessive of his two-leg- probably not a good thing.

Jack was talking. "Mom," and then Pitch couldn't understand much of anything else he said. He spoke a few two-leg words, but Jack didn't say any of them. A word he knew was "Help", two-legs usually shouted that when they were being attacked or drowning. And another he knew was "Ocean". That was their word for his home.

Why couldn't Jack say things he understood? He tried picking out words. He called the other to-leg, the smaller female, Maria. Pitch wasn't sure what Maria meant… "Bug," he whispered, repeating the word Jack had just said, "Bug, bug, bug, bug…"

"What does "Bug" mean?" Pitch whispered, watching them again.

The smaller female got up at one point and ran to the water's edge, lifting a piece of an oyster shell. "Shiny" she said. Judging by the smile on Jack's face, as well as hers, this was a good word. Would they like pearls?

He waited until they went inside their shelter. (Pitch would memorize where it was and what it looked like.) After they were gone he swished up to the sand and tossed a few of his pearls out away from the tide. Then he backed off behind his hiding spot and waited again.

They came out later, but didn't notice them right away. Pitch didn't mind, he was happy watching Jack's face crinkle and move with every smile. He was so beautiful.

Suddenly Jack noticed a pearl. His face exploded into a smile and he quickly pointed it out to the smaller female. "Maria, look! A pearl!" Pitch would memorize that phrase- if only because of how incredible it sounded coming from Jack.

Purring softly, Pitch watched him scour the sand with his sister for more. They found the blue one he tossed up, the fleshy colored one, and the solid white one. There was still a pink one up there somewhere, but they could find it later if they needed. He just wanted to watch Jack.

How he managed to coordinate those long, gangly legs of his, Pitch didn't know. He wanted to touch them and see how long it would take before he had Jack on his back. His body itself was pretty thin, but those legs were like sticks.

If he were Pitch's kind he'd be dying of starvation at this point. Too thin. Obviously the two-legs didn't eat their own kind, but if they wanted to stay fatty and full they really should have considered it.

Jack ran one of his hands through his shimmering hair. Pitch wished he could do the same. Gosh, if the others knew he'd be deserted in a heartbeat. This was dangerous behavior. He knew from experience that he was asking to get caught. And getting caught meant exposing the others. Everyone remembered those stupid sirens who purposely let the two-legs see them. Now all the two-legs had stories about their kind and legends. Pitch didn't want to make those stories true.

But what he wouldn't give to just hold Jack against him again; maybe not drowning, but conscious and holding him back. He had his own body heat and it had been intoxicating for the duration he held him.

* * *

Maria continued searching the sand for more pearls. Jack watched with his mother, both of them smiling. She was determined to find all of them.

"Don't you think you would have found them already if there were more left?" his mother called to her, "It's getting dark, sweet-heart, we should be heading in."

Pouting unhappily, Maria followed her. Jack stood and watched the water for a moment before he would go as well. It still didn't add up. He shouldn't have survived. There was no possible way he could have… Did he have an angel watching over him? Was that who that man had been?


	3. Chapter 3

_**This story keeps making me mad. I add in the lines cutting it apart, and then they vanish, and I have to add them again. It's annoying… So, if I miss some, I'm sorry ahead of time…**_

_Two Legs, One Heart_ _– Chapter Three_

Pitch had no choice but to head back to his pod. Jack left; he had no other reason to stay.

Swishing down to the others, he found them currently in the middle of a meal. No two-legs this time, just a meal of fish and seal meat. Smiling, he swam down and handed off his collection of pearls to the younglings. They adored them.

"Heya Pitch," Aster called, smiling, "We saved some food for ya!" The black haired male swam down and rested beside his pod mate. The others were all pretty much finished with their food, but he was happy that at least Aster had waited.

Looking at the youngest pod members, Pitch couldn't help but smile at how they played games with the pearls and eventually tried eating them. Looks like two-legs weren't the only ones who enjoyed pearls.

Sitting and eating with his friend, Pitch asked, "How was the hunt anyway? Obviously you guys caught some good food…"

"Ah, it was fine," Aster said, "North got scraped up by one of the seals, but he's okay." Pitch looked at the eldest pod member. He was called North because he was the leader, the highest, and the top. And because every circular device he had found as a youngling said "North" at the top with an arrow pointing up, they all assumed North was a very good word. Thus, their leader being called North.

His beard was tangled with blood, a mixture of the seal's and his own Pitch guessed, but he looked alright for the most part. He was the only one of them that actually seemed physically able to grow facial hair. Maybe another reason he was leader… That, and he was fat and old. He knew how to survive- he was older than any of them. And always was able to catch food, no matter what happened.

Pitch could plainly see the bite wound on his right arm. It looked painful, but North didn't seem to let it get to him. He just ate with a big grin on his face while his mate nuzzled against him. (Pitch was secretly imagining himself as North, with Jack nuzzling him. Secretly… He would never tell anyone that. Innermost thoughts… Darn you, inner monologue, stop messing up Pitch's meal time!)

Frowning at himself, Pitch chomped fiercely into his seal. Aster gave him a curious look for that, but Pitch ignored it and kept eating.

After they all had eaten, and most of them were sound asleep, resting with full bellies, Pitch settled down next to his friends. Tooth was asking Aster about his last two-leg meal. She wanted to know if he had saved the teeth for her. (He forgot.)

Now she wasn't talking to Aster. She was frowning away from him and focusing her attention on Pitch. He just smiled awkwardly at her and tried to pretend she wasn't angry at all. An angry female meant terror for all involved.

So, he conveniently swam off to talk to another pod mate. A male called Sandy. He had a reason to be called this, just as much as Tooth. Instead of sleeping in the caverns like the rest of the pod, he chose to bury his tail in the sand and sleep on the ocean floor. It always left him with sand particles trapped in his hair.

"Hey," Pitch said, sliding down to rest beside him, "How's it going?"

Sandy smirked and looked over at Tooth. He then looked back at Pitch, without saying a word, and waited for him to explain why she was scowling after him. Smiling and shrugging, Pitch said, "No idea…" And Sandy chuckled at his obvious lie.

Still, Pitch just laid down and pretended not to notice his angry female friend. The two just sat together and chatted about everything besides her. Pitch told Sandy about how he watched the two-legs the other day. (Purposely leaving out today's search.) Sandy told him it was dangerous to stay close to them if they could fight back. "When can they ever fight back?" Pitch asked, snickering, "They have nothing to protect them. Only their technology. Without that, they're helpless. Worse than newborn seals…"

Sandy only warned him again. He said he didn't want his friend getting hurt or eaten. "I'll be fine," Pitch said, smiling. "I'll be fine…"

* * *

Jack was eating with his family. He and his sister had gone out early in the morning to see if there were any more pearls. (They actually found one more.) Now they were all enjoying lunch. Jack had a sandwich filled with potato crisps and turkey slices. Maria was having the same, just without the potato in the sandwich. Jack was weird- he shoved pickles and yams into the sandwich too.

"Do we have any fish?" he asked his mom. She gave him an odd look. "I think it'd go good on my sandwich," he explained.

"Jackson Overland Frost, you have plenty of food on your sandwich. Now just eat it and be happy," she scolded. Full name and all. Jack was definitely pushing his limits. Groaning, he resumed eating his bizarre lunch without a fuss. Maria made a face at him, mocking him for getting in trouble, so he made one back. This went on until more full names were used.

"Well, I want fish," he said, after setting his plate in the sink, "I'm gonna head out and catch me some."

"Oooh, ooh! I wanna come!" Maria shouted, grabbing her own adorable, tiny pink fishing pole, "I can help catch fish!"

All smiles, the siblings went out and sat on their little strip of beach. A bucket of nothing, a bowl full of meat scraps, and a jar full of worms between them, Jack rigged their poles up and helped set a worm on Maria's hook. She was disgusted by how it bled, but giggled at the way it wriggled on the hook. (Entranced and disgusted by death all at once.)

* * *

To say that Pitch was going and collecting random things right by the beach Jack sat at would be a terrible, terrible lie. He had gone back to see his beloved two-leg. He found Jack trying to catch fish the way two-legs did. It actually wasn't a bad way to catch them. (Not the best, but not the worst.)

Smiling, he decided to give him a little hand. Ducking under, finding a random, rather large fish, Pitch swam back to the baited hook in the water. Taking the fish in hand, Pitch basically shoved it onto the hook, yanking down so that it was speared through the lip.

Immediately Jack pulled back on it. Pitch swam behind a rock to watch and listen as he captured his fish.

The female sat with him. "Look! I got one!" he told her, lifting the flailing fish around. Naturally, she was incredibly excited. The two put the fish into some sort of vessel and went back to trying to catch more. Pitch wanted to help. He went and caught them some more, hooking them and watching them reel them in. (He gave Jack all the biggest fish.) He really enjoyed watching Jack smile… So pretty…

Sighing, he let them try to catch fish on their own for a little while. He just wanted to watch Jack for a bit. He looked so frustrated that he wasn't catching anything. It was so precious… Pitch wanted to cuddle him and tell him he'd catch some soon enough.

Why couldn't he be with him? He desperately wanted to touch Jack again, hold him, talk to him… But he just couldn't… Jack was a two-leg. He'd probably be horrified to see someone that looked like Pitch.

So, he stayed behind his rock and gazed longingly at the boy. He should never have fallen in love with him. He was just tormenting himself by going and seeing him, imagining the life they could never have. Eventually someone was going to catch him, be it another two-leg or one of his pod mates. He just hoped he wouldn't be caught for a long, long while…

It was late now. Jack had been fishing all day. He and Maria had caught quite a few fish, each they'd be saving for food later in the week. Right at the moment they were both sound asleep, having waited for hours for a bite that wasn't coming.

Their mother came out and smiled when she found them like this. Taking their poles, she reeled them both in, set them off in the grass away from the sandy beach, and carefully lifted Maria. She went back inside to take her to bed.

Pitch was left with a moment to swim nearer to his white haired beauty. Would the other female be coming back, he didn't know. He swam close, enough to reach out and run his fingers over the boy's feet. Jack made a soft noise as he did this. It made Pitch smile- he ran his fingers down the bottoms of his feet. Jack squirmed, giggling lightly at the feather-light touches.

Pitch wanted to get closer, to really touch him, but the moment he moved to do it their mother came back out. He had to jump back and hide himself in the water. She wouldn't see him under the surface, it was too dark. Two-legs had notoriously poor night-vision.

He watched as she woke Jack and walked him back into their shelter. Frowning unhappily, Pitch deemed it time to head back to the pod and sleep a while.

* * *

The next morning Jack got to take Maria down into town. It was actually pretty exciting- they were taking their pearls to be made into jewelry for her. (Their mother gave them some money before they practically ran out of the house.) He was just as eager as Maria was, though, the trips to town were always fun. Just walking by all the vendors was enjoyable. So many different things to buy. It was one of the wonders of living in their town.

They walked by a fish merchant. He had tons of salmon. Jack loved salmon. Maria had to drag him away from the stand. And they walked by a man who had live lobsters in a big bucket. Jack had to stop and take a peek. Once again Maria had to drag him away.

Finally at the jeweler's, the siblings offered up the pearls they had found and asked what they could make them into for under two hundred dollars. The man offered up making a ring. "But when Maria gets bigger it might not fit," Jack argued.

"Not a problem, we'll provide a chain so that you can turn it into a necklace if ever you want," the clerk said, smiling. "Now, which one do you want to make into a ring?"

Pointing at the blue pearl, Maria said, "This one!" The clerk nodded and went off to get a sizing device. They had to measure out which finger she wanted it for, and then the man told them it would take three days to make. Maria wasn't happy it would be so long, but Jack told her three days wasn't much.

"Heck, I was gone on my boating trip for three _months_!" he said, "Did you miss me at all while I was gone?"

"No," his little sister replied, smiling cheekily.

Jack then chased after her as she ran away squealing with laughter. When he finally caught her he blew a raspberry onto her cheek. She laughed louder and kicked her legs until he put her down.

Walking up the sidewalk back to their house, Jack felt a little bubble of fire build up in the pit of his stomach when he saw who was standing in the doorway, chatting it up with his mother.

"John…" he hissed out the name bitterly. Looking down at Maria, he whispered, "Okay, Mar, listen. I want you to run to the house, screaming for mom all happy. Don't stop telling her about the pearls and the ring and everything we saw today. We have to get rid of John. Okay?"

She grinned devilishly up at him. Jack recognized that smile- it was the exact same one he had whenever he had an evil plan. Damn, they were so very alike.

"Go!" he whispered, giving her a little push.

Immediately she sprinted toward the house, shrieking, "Mommy, mommy! They're gonna make it a ring! They're gonna make my pearl into a ring!" She jumped into her mother's arms and continued squeaking excitedly. "We saw a man with lobster today mommy! A whole **bunch** in a bucket!"

Jack grinned at the half baby talk she was using. "That's it," he whispered proudly, "Turn on the charm and make him feel like shit for coming in and ruining our happy family."

Soon after Maria began her rant of joy, John was loosening his tie awkwardly. Jack's mom was completely ignoring him now. Jack inwardly fist-pumped.

"Well, uh… I guess I'll get going…" John said uncomfortably, "I'll see you around, Jill…"

Jack stood and watched him walk away. At one point John glanced back. So, Jack gave him an evil smirk and saluted to him before heading inside and slamming the front door.

His mother saw the smug look on his face and quickly frowned at him. "Not my fault," Jack said, still smiling, "Maria was the one who came running over to you." Maria grinned at her mother- Jack had never felt more proud.

_**Odd thing to be proud of, but hey, when you're a fun-loving troublemaker, what better to be proud of?**_


	4. Chapter 4 (Pre-typed notice)

_**Listening to the soundtrack of the film this is based off of is actually very beneficial… :)-NOTICEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-**_

_**I'm going on a ONE WEEK VACATION. With basically NO INTERNET. I do apologize. SORRY. **_

_**I also apologize for how long I've been gone not updating ANYTHING. Went through some heaviness these past few days. Bouts of depression. Panic attacks. Crying, several times separately throughout the day, phobia-facing involuntarily, and such... Sorry, AGAIN. I'm trying. I...  
**_

_**On the plus side, I made myself a tumblr account after finally agreeing to it. just search my name... GreatDarkNoodleKing. You should find me... If not, type that in, and then tumblr and .com**_

_**Still, I do apologize. I'm slacking. I'm sorry. I need this vacation. I've dealt with a lot of crap. Don't want to make excuses... I do apologize if it sounds that way... It's hard to be inspired when you feel like you're disappointing to everyone you know...**_

_Two Legs, One Heart – Chapter Four_

Pitch frowned unhappily to himself as he lay in the cavern he shared with Tooth. He was thinking of Jack again, and was unhappy about it. He missed him. Why did Jack have to be asleep away from the water? Why couldn't he sleep near the ocean so he could be near _him_?

Frowning harder, he looked at Tooth. "Has there ever been a time where two-legs have gotten along with us?" he asked her. She gave him an incredulous look. "I mean, has there been a point where one of them has seen one of us and _not_ tried to kill us?"

"No," she replied, "And there's never been a time where we've not returned the favor." She turned to face him, floating there gracefully with her multi-colored tail, "Every chance they get, they try to kill us, remove us from the water so that we die. We don't give them the chance to keep doing it, either. They've killed younglings, Pitch," she hissed, "They're cold-blooded. They kill what they don't understand."

Pitch looked down at his hands. He didn't speak as she continued. "We eat them so they can't eat _us_. North's told us all this story enough times that you should know by now, Pitch."

"I was only asking…" he whispered softly, "I just wondered if… maybe… one of them could be different…"

Tooth scoffed, "Not likely. 'Bout as likely as one of us **not** eating them." Pitch bit his tongue at that, keeping himself dead silent.

And apparently, that was the worst thing he could do. Tooth lifted herself up. "Pitch…" she said his name accusingly. He swallowed and looked over at her. "Don't tell me you actually _saved_ one of them!"

"I-" Pitch started, but fell short seeing the look on her face. "He was just a boy!" he argued, jumping up, waving out his hands to try and prove his point, "Still a youngling himself!"

Tooth reared up, the scales on her tail puffing out threateningly. The fronds in her hair stood sharp as she hissed, "And what do young two-legs grow into, **Pitch**!?" He tried to talk, but she shoved him into the wall of the cave. "They grow into killers! They grow up and attack us! What did you think, that he was just going to remember that you saved him and would never attack you?!"

"No! That's not-!"

"Then what?! What could you have _possibly_ been thinking when you saved a two-leg!?"

"I wasn't!" Pitch shouted, smacking her away with his tail, "Okay?! I wasn't thinking! _Happy!?_"

Tooth scowled at him. "No," she spat, "Just disappointed…" Pitch blinked and swam closer to her, scowling. "You used to be the very first one to attack them. You were the most ruthless member of the pack. North was looking to make you leader once he passed on!"

Pitch frowned. "That isn't true and you know it," he spat, "He's passing it to his son like always."

"Well he would have!" she shouted, spinning around and fuming at him, body puffed out again in rage, "You used to be heartless! Why did this one change you!?"

Pitch had been prepared to shout back until then. Stopping, he floated down to the floor and looked at his hands in sorrow and self-doubt. "I… He was… different…" he whispered. Tooth settled down beside him, rubbing her hand against his shoulder, "I had never seen a two-leg like him before… I couldn't…"

"Pitch…" she whispered next to him, "Looks mean nothing with tier kind. He'll kill you if he gets the chance in the future. Won't even stop to think about it…"

"How do you know?" he asked, frowning unhappily. "He could be different. He could see us as something precious and choose not to attack or hurt us…"

Tooth sighed. "You don't know that…" she whispered, "None of us know that… And we can't afford to take that chance…" Pitch stared at his hands. He didn't want it to be true. He wanted Jack to be different.

* * *

"And this one goes here," Jack said to his sister as he showed her how to tie her shoelaces. "Over and under that loop… Around… And you pull until it knots…" Maria watched him curiously.

When he finished she smiled. "Hey, it's a bow!" she said, pointing at it. Their mother watched with a smile. The two then began her second foot.

"Heehee, goodbye fee-fees!" she said, teasing her brother. Jack scowled at her. Fee is what he's called his own feet since he was a baby. He couldn't say the 't' when he was young, and now it had become a habit. Now she teased him for it. Just because she had her first tooth by the time she was talking. Jerky little sister she was…

Once they were all finished, Jack helped his mother with the fish they had caught two nights ago. He helped scrape away the scales, and gut out the bones inside. It was messy work, but Jack found it fun to watch the scales flaking everywhere like snow. He loved snow. Hated it when the snow went away.

Tossing the fish onto their little un-moving grill outside, his mother began the work cooking. Jack stood by her while Maria tossed stones into the ocean. "Must've been pretty bad dealing with John while I was gone, huh?" he asked her at one point, smirking, "You didn't have me there to keep him away."

His mother gave him a scolding look and Jack shut up. "I'm jus' sayin'," he mumbled. She gave him a warning "_Jackson_" and he fell completely silent. Full first names usually meant he was pushing it.

So, while she cooked, Jack went over and joined his sister in throwing rocks. Jack loved the ocean, too. Not as much as snow, but he definitely loved the water. He didn't much enjoy nearly drowning, but hey, who would?

Jack bit his lip. "Hey Mar," he said, causing his sister to look up at him, "Do you believe in mermaids?"

"Of course!" she replied, grinning, "It was in that one book we read, remember? The Odd City!"

"The Odyssey?" he asked.

"Yeah, that!" Jack only laughed.

"Think there's any out there in the ocean?" he asked her. She looked out and pouted for a second or two.

"Well, we don't live in Greece, but, yeah, I think there's probably sumthin out there. Maybe we have our own Loch Ness Monster!" she jumped excitedly at that idea, smiling brightly. Jack smiled too. Maybe if his sister believed in it, it was sort of real… Maybe he wasn't completely crazy believing a man of the sea saved his life.

* * *

Pitch was swimming with Tooth. She was the only one who knew his secret, and she wanted to see the two-leg he had saved. She accompanied him on his little visit. "He'd better be worth you being an absolute moron for," she spat darkly. Pitch tried to not let her hostility bother him.

The two arrived at the little shelter by the water. He pointed to Jack, saying softly, "That's the one… With the hair as white as sunlight…"

Tooth watched the three two-legs for a moment, paying close attention to the one Pitch said he had rescued. "Who are the females he's with?" she asked.

"I think they may be his kin," Pitch replied, "At first I thought one was his mate, but it doesn't seem likely now." Tooth gave a soft nod.

After a long period of silence she whispered, "Well… He is handsome, but that doesn't justify not eating him." Pitch frowned unhappily at her. "I've killed plenty of handsome two-legs before."

"So have I," Pitch hissed darkly at him, "I've killed some younger than him, too… But I just… couldn't do that to him… I… I don't know why…"

Tooth scowled as she watched Jack tossing pebbles with Maria. Jack was laughing with her. Pitch gave a soft sigh as that beautiful smile spread across his face.

"He's perfect…" Pitch whispered. And Tooth gave a soft gasp. He turned to look at her and found her staring at him in horror. She jumped under the water, and Pitch quickly had to follow, and stop her from telling everyone.

"Tooth, wait!" he shouted, grabbing hold of her tail.

Snarling, she spun around and slashed at him. "Don't you tell me to wait!" she spat, "You're in love with a two-leg! Pitch you _know_ how terrible that is! You _know_ how stupid, dangerous, and just plain crazy this is!"

Pitch swam to her and pulled her close. "I know, I know…" he whispered, holding her so that she couldn't get away, "I know how stupid it is… I just… Please," he said, pleading with her, "You can't tell anyone. If the others found out I'd have no one." Tooth kicked out of his grip, but stayed near him. "I can't be with him, obviously, and if I can't be with you and the rest of the pod, I'll have nowhere to go! Nowhere to belong… I won't have a family, friends, or anyone watching out for me. I'll be alone… Again."

Tooth flinched lightly at that. Her arms were crossed over her breasts and she wasn't looking at him. He knew he hit a soft spot there. Pitch had lost his parents as a youth. He had nearly starved alone. If it hadn't been for North and his pod. They had been heading on a hunt and Pitch distinctly remembered a very young, very pretty little female swimming up to him. None of the others had noticed him. She had looked at him and asked, "Hey, how come you're all by yourself?" And that had been it. Pitch had been taken in by the others and became practically kin with Tooth. They fought enough to be, anyway…

"Please, Tooth," he whispered, "I can't be alone again…"

Inhaling softly, she whispered, "Alright… I won't tell anyone…" He quickly embraced her, purring happily. She shoved him off, face flushed with embarrassment. "But if you _ever_ hug me like that again, I'm spilling your secret to everyone!"

Grinning, Pitch jumped and hugged her again. She then began fighting with him and shoving him and they began an impromptu game of tag.

* * *

It was late at night now. Jack and his family had stayed outside, lit a fire, and watched the sun set. Jack said he wanted to camp out tonight, watch the stars a while. Maria joined him. And before long, both Frost siblings were sound asleep on the sandy beach, their mother sleeping peacefully in the grass not far away.

Tooth and Pitch swam over to them until their bellies were against dry sand. Pitch was running his fingertips over Jack's smooth face; gazing at him with such longing it made Tooth's heart heavy.

"He is beautiful," Tooth whispered, completely unbothered by the fact that her pod mate was affectionate for another male, and especially a two-leg. (The two-leg part had thrown off all other points of argument earlier.)

Pitch sighed. "I want to be with him…" he said, pressing his lips to Jack's for a brief, gentle kiss. "I wish I could stay here forever…"

Tooth watched him running his fingers over Jack's face in sympathy. "Maybe we could find some spell or something… you could stay on land with him…"

"And leave the pod?" Pitch whispered, looking at her, "Tooth, I couldn't…"

She smiled and rubbed his shoulder sweetly. "If it'll make you happy, I wouldn't mind… I want to see you as happy as when we first found you again…" Pitch couldn't help but smile. "I could just tell the others you wanted some time alone… You usually like doing that…"

Pitch looked back to his sleeping two-leg. Smiling down at him, he whispered, "Soon, Jack…" And he placed another soft kiss on his lips. They remained there, Pitch holding Jack in his arms, for hours. He didn't want to leave him. This felt perfect… Like it was meant to be… How could he abandon something that felt so right?


	5. Chapter 5

_**Why is this one so much fun to type? And why am I listening to scary organ music? Dangit, internet, this is not on my playlist! **_

_**Hey, so, I'm back. Vacay was fun. Back in school now. Actually have free time now, too. Which means updates. Updates means smiles for me. And reviews that I get to read. Yay! I love reading! *Thinks Despicable Me, love reading***_

_Two Legs, One Heart – Chapter Five_

Pitch had been holding Jack in his arms for hours. The beautiful sleeping two-leg even wrapped his arms around him in his sleep. He wanted nothing more than this right now. Just to have and hold Jack and let him know how much he truly loved him.

"Pitch," Tooth whispered behind him, "The sun's coming up… We have to get back…" Pitch wanted to cry. How had so much time gone by so fast? He couldn't leave. Not yet. He hadn't been here long enough. Jack!

Tooth had to pull him off of Jack. Just as they were about to leave she stopped. "Oh, wait," she said, moving back towards the sleeping two-leg.

Pitch watched in confusion. Tooth pushed his lips apart and peered into Jack's mouth. "HOLY-!" and Pitch was slamming a hand over her mouth and jumping back into the water with her thrashing and screaming.

Jack sat up with a start at the sound. Pitch knew he had.

Letting go of Tooth, he hissed, "What was that all about!?"

"DID YOU SEE HOW FUCKING WHITE HIS TEETH ARE!?" she shrieked at him. She made to swim back. "I HAVE TO HAVE ONE!"

Pitch grabbed her, effectively stopping her frantic flailing to rip Jack's teeth out. She shouted unhappily as he dragged her away. (Shouldn't _she_ be dragging _him_?) "We have to go back," he told her, yanking her away from the beach, "You can't have his teeth."

"But they were so perfect!" she whined, finally stopping in her struggle, "They were like the sunlight!"

* * *

Jack could have sworn he heard a woman screaming. Did he have a nightmare? That seemed so real… Had Maria had a nightmare? Jack spun his head around to look at her. Nope… Sleeping soundly. Then what the heck woke him up?

For some reason he was looking out into the water again. Searching for what, he didn't even know anymore. There was no mystery man of the sea, there was no wailing woman- he was imagining things. Maybe nearly drowning had damaged him worse than he had thought…

It all revolved around the ocean, after all. A man in the water, a shrieking woman on the beach. He was suffering from post-traumatic stress, that had to be it. It had to. It couldn't be real.

* * *

Pitch settled back into the pod, going off on a hunting trip. North apparently had spotted a small two-leg vessel. It was netting salmon, so, even if they couldn't have the real prize, there was always the fish to eat.

Oddly enough, the thought of eating another two-leg didn't bother Pitch. Just the thought of eating Jack. Jack was too precious to be eaten. Too perfect. Others weren't like him. They were… less special…

They successfully stole about half the salmon the two-legs caught, and then they tipped their vessel, knocking one into the water. He would not come back to the surface after that. He became their main course.

After the feeding was over, Tooth removed his teeth and stuffed them into her pouch on her stomach.

Settling himself down, Pitch rifled through several of the pearls he had gathered in his little cavern. Tooth was threading her new teeth together.

Pitch collected mostly blue pearls. He preferred the darker ones. He absently wondered if Jack preferred white pearls. Jack was so perfect…

Suddenly Tooth was asking him what was wrong. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You're over there sighing like you're depressed," she said, "Everything okay?"

"Just… Thinking of Jack again…" And Tooth sighed. She swam over to him and rubbed his shoulders. Go try and find some way to be with him… I'll tell the others you wanted time alone… Just… Stop being so sad all the time… I want Pitch back…"

He smiled warmly at her before leaving the cave and swimming off. He knew of a few mystical beings nearby. One was known to be very giving, so maybe he'd visit him.

* * *

This being was referred to as Moon. He was pale and bald and seemed to give off a glow. He was known to practice frequent magic, gifting creatures he deemed worthy with powers unlike others. He was a very benevolent man. He gave himself to help others. (If it were Pitch who knew all these tricks, he'd be saving them for himself.)

Swimming into the small cave, Pitch nearly screamed seeing how close Moon was to him. He was staring right at him. Had he been waiting for him?

"I've been waiting for you,"

Oh, well, guess that answers that…

Pitch swallowed nervously. "You give off a very strong sense of discontent." Moon whispered calmly, swishing away from Pitch, "You are upset by something…" He settled himself down to gaze at him with extremely pale eyes. (Was he blind?) "So… what is it?"

Looking at the obviously old male, Pitch said, "It… I…" he sighed unhappily. "I've fallen in love with a two-leg…"

"A human?" Moon asked, smiling brightly, "Is that all?" Pitch blinked- is that all? What the…? What…? Moon laughed, "You're not the first, my boy, believe me. I've had many others with the same issue. Now, all that matters is how you want to fix this. Do you want to get rid of the pesky feelings or do you want to do something with them?"

"I want to be with him," Pitch said in response, looking at the man, "I want to hold him in my arms and never let go…"

Moon smiled. "Well, that's one of the lightest things I've heard someone say they've wanted to do." Pitch felt his cheeks darken at that inappropriate comment. "Alright, let's see what I've got…" And Moon pushed up and began going through pockets of items. Pitch swam a little closer to watch.

He pulled out a shimmering black and blue turbo shell. He stuffed it full at the very bottom with dark pearls, then grabbed a handful of something Pitch couldn't quite see. He sealed over the opening with an inky black substance. He shook it around in his hands a few times before threading it on a chain of sea kelp.

He moved forward and reached around Pitch's neck, tying it there. "Wear this at all times," he whispered, "It will give you legs when you are completely out of the water. But once you are at least halfway submerged again, the spell will halt. It only takes effect if you are out of water…" Pitch nodded gently. "If it is removed when you are out of water, the spell will break, and your tail will come back no matter where you are… Keep it close… Keep it safe…"

"Thank you," Pitch whispered, looking at him. Moon smiled gently, and with that, swam off to another corner of the cavern. "What do I do if the thread breaks?" Pitch asked. He received no answer. Confused, Pitch turned to ask again. Moon was gone…

Reaching his hands up slowly, Pitch held the shell tight. This was his key to getting to Jack. He couldn't ever lose this…

* * *

Jack had spent the whole day playing games with his sister and mother, and then running errands around town. They bought slices of meat, fruit, clothes, and more worms for fishing.

Cleaning dirt off his hands, Jack smiled as Maria bounced around the kitchen, chanting to their mother that she finally had her ring. She knew already, she had gone with them to get it, but Maria was too excited to stop. The ring looked very pretty on her itty bitty finger. Jack told her she looked like a real lady.

"I'm gonna go out on the beach and see if there's anymore of 'em, kay?" he said to her, poking her nose. She nodded happily and began looking through their mother's jewelry.

Jack turned and took his steps outside.

* * *

Pitch was struggling to move against the sand of the beach. He dragged himself out of water and watched as his tail dried and slowly withered away into nothingness. He stared down at his new legs in wonder. He attempted to move them like he would his tail, failing and ending up flipping himself over into a terribly uncomfortable position. He groaned unhappily and tried moving muscles in his legs.

* * *

Jack stopped dead when he saw a naked man lying on the beach right behind their house. He must have gasped too, because when he did, the man lifted his head. And his eyes lit up.

"Jack!" the man called, pushing his arms up and trying to stand, legs wobbling in a way that scared Jack a hell of a lot more than it should. "Jack! Jack!" the man kept shouting his name.

"Moooooomm!" Jack quickly called, terror grabbing hold of his entire body, "Mom, there's a really creepy man out here!"

The man couldn't even take one step before he collapsed to the ground. It seemed like his legs weren't working. And even though Jack was very much afraid of this man who knew his name, though they'd never met, he felt bad watching him fall again and again.

He seemed so happy to see him. He didn't even seem to care that h was literally getting nowhere.

Jack saw him collapsing again, and quickly rushed over to catch him. He was going to get hurt! Jack caught him with an 'oomf!' and tried hard to support both their weights into a standing position.

The man blinked a few times and quickly looked at him. Jack heard the back door opening as his mother came out. The man smiled at him like he had missed Jack more than he had missed anything else in the world. Jack didn't even know who this man was.

He raised his sandy arm and ran his fingers through Jack's hair. His bright, yellow eyes flicked over every speck on his face and his thumb stroked over his ear. "Jack…" he whispered, gazing at him tenderly, lovingly.

"Uh…" Jack started, but was stopped as the man kissed him. He inhaled sharply, heard his mother do as well, and stood in terror as the man's tongue ran over his own.

After what felt like an eternity of horror, the man pulled away. He was still smiling at him like he had been searching for him forever. The man rested his forehead against his and closed his yellow eyes. "Jack…" he breathed happily, wrapping his arms around him, "Jack, mata cuo neea-wa…"

"Um…" Jack glanced around nervously. Okay… So… Jack had absolutely no idea what he just said… Or what language that even was… He looked back at his mom. "Mom?" he called, "Can you help me with this guy…?" She hurried over to him and tried to pull one of the man's arms off of Jack.

Apparently he didn't like that. At first he was confused as to what she was doing, but the moment he felt her pulling him off Jack, the man snarled like an animal and squeezed Jack tight, hissing at his mother and whispering repeatedly into Jack's ear, "Nad tum or. Nad tum or. Nad…"

"Uh," Jack had to push the man a little bit off him. Looking up at him, he said, "We need to take you inside." The man blinked a couple of times at that and tilted his head, speaking more gibberish that Jack didn't understand.

"Uh, okay… Um…" he looked around for a way to explain what he was trying to say. Finally he just pointed at the house. "Inside," he said, still pointing.

The man followed his finger and stared at their house for a moment before whispering, "In..side…"

"Yes," Jack said, nodding, "We're going to take you inside."

"Inside," the man repeated again, now looking at Jack. He pointed one arm at their house and said, "Meshu atwag inside jesho?"

Jack swallowed and started walking him toward their house. He had no clue what this guy was saying. So he just began trying to drag him along. The man tried to walk on his own as well, but didn't manage more than a few stumbled steps and nearly tripping them.

* * *

It took a lot of effort to get the man inside the house and sitting in a chair in the kitchen. But once he was there, he seemed content with just smiling at Jack. Maria stared at him in confused fear and wonder. Jack would have been too if he weren't so worried about making sure this man didn't get himself killed. (His skin looked like it was grey!)

"Uh… Can we get this guy some clothes?" Jack asked his mom, uncomfortable with the fact that the still very naked man was just sitting there as if nothing was wrong. She went off and came back with a pair of their fathers old black pants. They'd probably be too short on this guy, but they needed something, right?

Carefully pulling up a chair, Jack sat in front of the naked man with black hair. "Okay… Uh… We need you to put these on," he said, holding the pants out toward him.

The man stared at them for a moment before looking back at him. He obviously didn't understand. Jack hoped he'd at least take them if he held them out long enough. But instead, the man just smiled and reached a hand out toward him, whispering sweetly, "Jack…"

Jack stopped him from touching his hair again. "No," he said, grabbing his wrist, "No. No, we need you to wear some clothes!" The man looked very upset by being told no.

"No…?" he repeated sadly. Jack nodded. And the man retracted his hand with a frown.

Jack tried for a little while to communicate with him. Bu got nothing. So, he knelt down in front of the man and lifted up one of his feet. He slid it through the leg of the pants and then did the same to the other. The man was speaking gibberish as Jack did this, the only word he was understanding was his own name. How he knew it, Jack still didn't now.

After finally yanking the black pants, which were basically shorts on his guy, onto the thin, black haired man, Jack sat back down with a sigh. That had been a lot of work. And the man didn't seem to understand what was on him. He was tugging at them incessantly with a frown.

Jack reached a hand out when he tried pulling them down. "No," he said calmly.

The man blinked at him a moment before moving his hands away and touching Jack's hair again. This time Jack figured he may as well let him, seeing as how he was doing everything he wanted, anyway.

His mother and sister sat next to them and tried speaking to the man who washed up on their beach as well. But they had no luck. No matter what they would do, the man would only respond to Jack, and even then it was all gibberish that he didn't understand.

His mother gave up. "See if you can get anything from him, Jack, he obviously likes you best," she said, sitting on the other side of the room and beginning to knit.

Maria continued to watch, just a little further away now. The man seemed to like being alone with Jack, he was all smiles and kept trying to touch him.

"So… What's your name?" Jack asked, hoping he would understand something.

Nope. "Tash ne na name?" he questioned, searching Jack's face. Okay, so… Maybe he was wondering what the word name meant?

"Your name," Jack said, looking him dead in the eye. He still didn't appear to understand. "Well… Like… I'm Jack," he said, touching his fingers to his own chest.

The man smiled and reached forward to touch him, cooing, "Jack."

Jack stopped him. "No," he said firmly, "No. No…" He held the man's wrist and looked right at him as he whispered, "Jack," touching his own chest again. He moved his hand out to touch the man's bare chest.

The man watched him as he did this a few times. "Jack…" he whispered to him whenever he pressed his fingers to his own chest. Jack went to touch the man's, but the man pulled his hand to him instead.

He held Jack's hand to his chest with both his own and whispered, "Pitch…"

It took Jack a full minute to realize that he had answered him. Blinking sixty times, Jack stopped gawking and said, "Pitch…" The man smiled and pushed his fingers through Jack's hair again.

"Jack…" he whispered as he touched him. Okay. So, Jack had established something. He knew his name was Pitch.

Looking to his mother, he said, "Well, I found out that his name is Pitch." Pitch looked over at her with Jack until his name was said. At that point he looked back at Jack expectantly.

"Well, obviously he doesn't speak our language," she said, "Can you find out where he's from?"

Jack looked back at the black haired man. "Pitch…?" he said, looking up at him. Pitch smiled when Jack said his name. "Where are you from?" he asked slowly, carefully.

Pitch didn't seem to understand. "Where. Is. Your. Home?" Jack asked. Still nothing. "_Home_," he said, motioning to the house that surrounded them. Pitch looked at everything around them as Jack said the word several times.

"_Jack's home_," he said, pointing to himself, then motioning around and then pointing to the ground.

"Home…" Pitch repeated, watching Jack intently.

Nodding, Jack touched Pitch's chest. "Where is Pitch's home?" he asked gently, like trying to reason with an unhappy child.

A flicker of realization in those yellow eyes and Pitch pointed at the back window toward the ocean. Jack looked. "Home," Pitch whispered, "Ocean. Home." Okay, so he knew a few words…

"So you're from another country…" he said gently, looking at Pitch.

"Ocean," Pitch said again, "Ocean. Home." Jack really wished he could understand what he was trying to tell him. He stared at Pitch in confusion as he tried to explain himself. Eventually Pitch just gave up and stared back at him.

"Jack…" he whispered, leaning forward in his chair. He was stroking his fingers through his hair again. Pitch pushed his lips into his again, and Jack had to push him back.

"No," he said firmly. Pitch looked dejected the instant he said it.

"Jack," he said again, whimpering as he cupped Jack's face and tried to kiss him again.

Jack put a hand between their mouths. "No," he said firmly, "No kissing." To that Pitch looked ready to cry.

Sighing, Jack stood. This was weird. "Should he stay here for the night, mom?" he asked, looking at her.

"We don't have any spare rooms," she said, looking up at him, "Would you be willing to share yours?"

"I guess," Jack said, looking at Pitch nervously. He couldn't help but smile a little, though, seeing Pitch trying to stand up with him and failing. It was actually very cute to see him trying so hard and just not being able to work those long legs of his. Jack reached out and scooped his arm under Pitch's arms, supporting his weight from the side.

"I got you," he told him with a smile, "I got you…"

Pitch smiled down at him. Maybe Jack should practice some walking with him, seeing as how he obviously still had sea-legs. Smiling, he took a step forward with his left foot. He looked at Pitch, then at his foot, and nudged Pitch's left foot with his right. Pitch stared for a second before feebly sliding his foot forward. "There we go," Jack said, "Now the right one." Jack moved his foot forward, and Pitch slowly did the same.

This went on for a while. Maria giggled at the two of them as Jack basically re-taught Pitch to walk. "One foot in front of the other," he told him over and over, "Just one foot in front of the other."

He had apparently said it enough for Pitch to start whispering it next to his ear.

Once Pitch seemed a little steadier on his feet, Jack slid away. He stood three steps in front of Pitch and held his arms open toward him. Pitch looked terrified until he saw Jack waiting for him.

Jack couldn't help but laugh with Maria as Pitch tripped over himself in his attempt to walk to Jack. Not even a full step.

"Okay, well, A for effort," he said, smiling as he caught him in his arms again. Pitch blinked up at him before smiling proudly like making Jack laugh was what he had been trying to do the entire time. (Like walking wasn't what he was trying to do.)

Jack walked Pitch to the couch and sat him down. He started to walk away, and Pitch tried to get up and follow him. Jack had to push his shoulders back down and tell him firmly, "Stay."

Pitch stared at him for a second. "Stay…" he repeated, letting his arms slide down and rest in his lap.

"Good," Jack said, smiling. He walked to the kitchen and got himself some food. He came back with a plate of potato crisps, pickles, and slices of banana. He returned to Pitch and offered him the plate. Pitch only blinked at it before looking at Jack in confusion. Sighing, Jack took a pickle and ate it. Pitch seemed to understand that. He took one as well and put it in his mouth.

His reaction to the taste made Jack giggle fiercely. The puckered, unhappy, sour face he made. It was absolutely adorable!

"I take it you've never had pickles," Jack said, still laughing, as Pitch set the pickle back on the plate with an unhappy frown. Jack offered him one of the potato crisps. Pitch looked reluctant to try it. It was really cute.

"It's okay," Jack said, "This one isn't sour." Pitch looked at him with a little bit of a pout. "It's okay…" Jack said again, offering him the food. Pitch took it after that, if albeit slowly. He crunched down on it and Jack smiled at the happily surprised look on his face.

Pitch noticed Jack smiling, and he smiled too. "Jack," he said his name, touching his fingers to Jack's lips. He made a soft hum of joy as he rubbed his fingers back and forth over Jack's lower lip. Jack smiled a little brighter. Pitch was like a little kid. He didn't understand anything other than making Jack happy.

Maria crawled over to look at the two of them. Pitch turned his head down to stare at her. Jack reached his hand down and rested it on her shoulder. "This is my sister," Jack said gently.

"Maria," Pitch said, looking back to Jack after saying it. Jack blinked in surprise. He knew her name too. This… This was weird…

"Yes," Jack whispered, looking at Pitch, "Maria…" Pitch looked at the brown haired girl. Maria gave him a nervous smile, and Pitch sort of returned it. He seemed more intent on making Jack happy than anyone else.

"Jack, he's kind of weird…" she whispered, looking at her brother worriedly, "How does he know who we are…?"

Jack shrugged, pulling her a little closer. "I'm not sure." When he pulled her into a side-hug, Pitch promptly panicked. He immediately grabbed hold of Jack and yanked him away from Maria. Jack yelped in surprise feeling the man shove him into his chest.

Pitch was staring at Maria like she had just committed some sort of horrible crime. Jack looked up and saw how angry he looked. Quickly, he slapped his arm. Pitch hissed with pain and looked at him.

"No. Be nice," he told him sternly. Pitch huffed unhappily and let him go.

* * *

Pitch really should have thought about the fact that neither one of them could speak the same language. How was he supposed to tell Jack that he was in love with him if he couldn't even understand him?!

"I really didn't think this through…" he mumbled to himself, earning a curious look from Jack. He smiled in spite of his unhappiness. Just having Jack look at him was enough to make him feel lighter than air. Jack's attention was focused on him. It was enough to keep him distracted from the babble spewing from his mouth.


	6. Chapter 6

_**So, I had chapter six all typed out… And then I realized- IT SUCKED. It was COMPLETELY MARY SUE. I almost hurled re-reading it. Ugh.**_

_**Why did I do things? Why do words? HOW DO INTERNET?**_

_Two Legs, One Heart—Chapter Six_

Jack _had_ prepared a bunch of bedding on the floor for Pitch to sleep on that night. Had being the key word. When Pitch came into is bedroom and saw Jack sit on his bed he immediately crawled right in with him. Jack had to tell him no twenty times before the man got off and sat down in the cocoon of blankets.

He looked like a sad puppy.

And Jack tried to ignore that fact. But when he felt Pitch touching the side of his arm, (he had turned over so he wouldn't have to see that sad face) and whispering his name his resolve crumbled. He probably was the only thing Pitch had to grasp in this world right now. (He seemed to be the only thing he was really comfortable with, anyway…)

Looking at the tall man, Jack sighed. "Okay, fine… You can come up…" Pitch gave him a pleading look. "Right… You don't understand a word I'm saying…"

Sitting up, Jack patted his bed. The smile on Pitch's face at that point made Jack wonder if he had any reason to be uncomfortable around him. Sure, he was a fully grown man, who somehow knew his name and his sister's, had a strange obsession with him, wanted to constantly snuggle, and had kissed him a few times without his consent, but right now he just seemed like a lost little kid.

The tall man was nuzzling him. Now Jack understood why he felt uncomfortable. This was creepy.

Pushing Pitch's warm cheek away from his, Jack stated firmly, "No." Pitch whimpered unhappily at that and tried to nuzzle him again. "I said no," he said in a warning tone. This time Pitch moved away. Sighing, Jack grumbled, "Just get some sleep, okay?"

He heard Pitch mumbling next to him. Probably just trying to figure out what he had just said. Yawning, Jack curled in on himself and tried to ignore the fact that he was sleeping with a man he hardly knew. He felt Pitch rest his head against his back.

"_No_," he said. He heard him sigh and Pitch pulled himself away. "Good."

Pitch watched Jack as he lay there. After a while it dawned on him that he had fallen asleep.

Shifting his weight, he moved to look at his perfect sleeping face. All of Jack's features had relaxed. Smiling, he ran his fingertips along the line of his jaw before leaning in and kissing it.

"I love you so much…" he whispered in his ear. Jack shifted a little at the breath tickling him, but other than that he didn't react. Pitch smiled again. Kissing just below Jack's ear, he whispered, "I want to be with you… Give me a chance…"

Apparently the whispering woke Jack. Blinking open his blue eyes, he looked over at Pitch. He was staring at him curiously.

With a sigh, he asked, "I take it you can't sleep?" Pitch gave him a tiny smile and his hand reached out to rub along his chin. Jack smirked. "Touchy, aren'tcha?"

Pitch kissed his jaw. Jack rolled his eyes. It was cute until it got like this. He was pretty much positive that he was sleeping with a pedophile-rapist-chain murderer-drug dealer-evil god thing. The whole language thing was probably just a trick to get him to trust him. Right now Pitch was probably planning his kidnapping and murder.

But that was when the man pulled his hands and lips away and just lowered his chin onto Jack's arm. Jack stared at him in confusion. He had seen dogs do that before when they wanted attention but were being ignored. Was that all Pitch wanted? Attention?

"Bored?" he asked him, smiling a little. Pitch sighed, giving up on trying to understand what he just said. Jack didn't exactly blame him. "Wanna go watch the water?" he asked. Pitch lifted his head at that. Apparently he understood some of that?

"Water…?" Pitch repeated. Jack nodded. The tall man frowned and looked at Jack's face for a brief moment before whispering, "Ocean…?"

Jack nodded, sitting up a little. "Yes," he said, suddenly feeling a swell of pride that Pitch had made that connection all by himself. He felt like a proud parent. "Yes, yes, the ocean! Ocean! It's made of water!"

Pitch was grinning at him, looking like he had just gotten a fantastic birthday present. Standing up, Jack took the grey hand and helped him walk out to the beach. He had to help him sit, too. (He really couldn't work out his legs, could he? Maybe it was just because he was so tall… He wouldn't be able to work legs that long.)

Sitting next to him, Jack couldn't help but notice how at peace Pitch instantly seemed once he was near the water. His home was probably near water then. Made a mental connection…

"Home…" Pitch whispered, as if reading his thoughts. Jack smiled brightly at him.

"You miss it huh?" he asked. Pitch gave a soft nod, but Jack had a feeling he still had no idea what he had said. Sitting there next to him, Jack finally took in how ridiculous the poor man looked wearing those pants that were probably two lengths of his calves too short. It made him look like a giant. Or like a super-powered freak who had ripped himself out of his clothes. He looked cold…

He could see Pitch shivering. Offering a small smile, Jack stood up and said, "Let's head back inside and get you somewhere warm…" Pitch looked up at him the moment he stood, a curios look on his face, but he smiled hearing the word 'inside'.

Walking him back into the house, Jack got Pitch a blanket and had him sit on the couch. He wasn't sure if the man would ever fall asleep, but if he could get him to sleep, he didn't care where it was. He was exhausted. Less than ten seconds after sitting on the couch, Jack was out like a light.

_**Fun Fact: I'M SO DONE RIGHT NOW. I've tried typing this three times. CAN'T THINK. My brain is being flooded with questions to myself. NEED BREAK**_


End file.
